Bruins forward Reid makes NCAA DI commitment

June 10, 2013

AJ Reid will play NCAA Division I hockey in 2013-14 for the Air Force Academy.

The Austin Bruins, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are proud to announce that forward AJ Reid has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the Air Force Academy of the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA). Reid, 20, will join the Falcons this fall for the 2013-14 season.

The native of Lakeville, Minnesota just completed his second season with the Bruins. In 55 regular season games, Reid (5’10/190) recorded 65 points (25 goals, 40 assists), which ranked 2nd on the team. Reid also had five points in eight playoff games last season.

Reid was named the NAHL Central Division Star of the Week on two occassions during the 2012-13 season. He was given the honor on December 24th and again on April 1st. On both occassions, Reid recorded five points in two games helping his team to wins. The Bruins won the Central Division regular season title and finished with the second best record in the league last season.

“AJ uses his quickness and feet to create turnovers and he had some really good chemistry with his linemates all season long,” said Bruins head coach Chris Tok. “He has tremendous speed, which allows him to win the one on one battles.”

Reid also took part in the 2013 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament back in February in Troy, Michigan when he played on the Dakota team. He finished with two points in the three games. Reid will be joinging an Air Force squad who is led by legendary head coach Frank Serratore. This past season, Air Force had over 20 NAHL alumni on its roster, more than any other NCAA Division I team.

In his NAHL career, Reid recorded 94 points in 81 career regular season games. Reid joined the Bruins in the middle of the 2011-12 season. In February of 2012, Reid had decided to play college hockey for Army, but decided to decommit prior to the 2012-13 season.

Prior to playing junior hockey, Reid played for St. Thomas Academy in Minnesota and was one of ten finalists for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey award. He led St. Thomas to the Class A State Championship in 2011 and was the recipient of the Herb Brooks Award, which is given annually the most qualified hockey player in the Minnesota state tournament who strongly represents the values, characteristics, and traits that defined legendary hockey coach, Herb Brooks.

Reid is the ninth Bruins player to make an NCAA commitment this season and third player to secure an NCAA Division I commitment joining teammates CJ Smith (UMASS-Lowell) and Brandon Wahlin (UMASS).